Retort for the distillation of shale



Nov. 13 1923.

C. M. GARLAND RETORT FOR THE DISTILLATION 0F SHALE, BITUMINOUS COAL, AND OTHER MATERIALS Filed Feb. 11. 1921 [120922 ion Patented Nov. 13, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

CLAUDE M. GAR-LAND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RETORT FOR THE DISTILLATION OF SHALE, BITUMINOUS COAL, AND OTHER IVIATEB-IALS.

Application filed February 11, 1921.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE M. GARLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Retorts for the ,Distillation of Shale, Bituminous Coal, and Other Materials, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to produce a retort which will be continuous in operation, in which the material subjected to distillation will be uniformly heated by causing the heating medium, preferably superheated. steam, to pass through the material, and the volatile matter contained therein rapidly driven off. Further objects and advantages of my invention will be brought out in the following specification and the drawings accompanying same which form a art thereof:

eferring to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts, Figure l is a vertical sectional elevation through my retort; Figure 2 is a cross sectional elevation on the line X X? of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section through one of the water cooled bearings; Figure 4 is an elevation in cross section on the line Y Y of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a section through one of the perforations on the line A of Figure 4, and Figure 6 is a section on the line B of Figure 4. y

The numeral 1 indicates a steel shell which is lined with the fire brick lining 2, held away from the shell by a layer of asbestos or other soft material 3. The ends of the shell 1 are closed by the flanged heads 6 and 7, respectively. The head 7, which is in the charging end of the retort, is provided with a flanged gas outlet 0. The head 6, which is at the discharging end of the retort, is provided with a flanged inlet opening 9 for the admission of the heating medium. The heads 6 and 7 are provided with flanges 21 and 20, respectively, to which water cooled bearings 11 and 12 are bolted. Through these bearings, a shaft 10 extends. This shaft passes centrally through the retort and is prevented from sliding endwise, as the retort is mounted at a slight angle to the horizontal, by means of the ball bearing 14., This ball bearing comprises a flange 13, keyed to the shaft 10 and adapted to carry the balls 14:. Water is admitted to the bear- Serial No. 444,090.

ings for cooling purposes through the pipe 4:6 and leaves through the pipe 47. The shaft 10 is made hollow for water cooling. Water is admitted through the pipe 17, which is held in the packing gland 15, passes through the shaft and out through the pipe 16.

A gear 62 is keyed to the shaft 10 through which the shaft may be rotated. On the shaft 10 are mounted stirrer arms 43 to which are attached at the ends scrapers 44:. The arms 43 are mounted radially on the shaft and are arranged in the form of a helix.

That portion of the shaft extending through the retort is covered by insulating material 52 which is held in place by means of a steel jacket 51 through which the arms d3 extend. The jacket 51 is held in place by means of the screws 41.

Inside of the fire brick lining 2 a cast iron cylindrical shell 4 is mounted on the rings 5 which are bolted to the steel shell 1. This cast iron lining 4 is used to prevent the wear of the fire brick which would be very rapid when the retort was in operation. A charging device is provided at the charging end of the retort for feeding material to the interior of same. Thecharging device 24 consists of a rotating drum 23 mounted on a shaft 56 and adapted to rotate in the shell 54. The drum 23 is provided with the slot 39 which is adapted to register with the bot tom of the magazine 25. The shaft 56 to which is keyed the drum 23 is provided with a pulley 27 through which the drum and shaft may be rotated. The discharge from the drum passes through the opening into the interior of the retort.

Near the discharging end of the retort is mounted a false head 67 which is adapted to hold back the material in the retort and cause the retort to run full with the material to be distilled. The head 67 is bolted to the cast iron shell l and is provided with heavy stifiening ribs 71 in the upper half. The lower half of the false head 67 is pro.- vided with slots 63 which are shrouded by means of shrouds 62, the open ends of the shrouds being in the direction of the rotation of the stirrer bars. In the lower righthand corner of the false head 67, as shown in Figure 4, and in enlarged section Figure 6, an opening 66 is provided which is flanged on each side by extensions 64 and which is adapted to be closed by means of a door which is pivoted on a shaft 68 extending through the door and the extensions 64. A. rod 70 ispivoted at 69 to the upper end of the door 65. This rod extends through the shell 1 and is provided with threads at the upper end and a threaded hand wheel 72 which rests on a block 73 attached to the shell 1. By turning the hand wheel 72, the door 65-may be raised and lowered to adjust the amount of material escaping from the retort through the opening 66.

One or more baffles 75 are arranged crosswise of the retort and extend downward as shown in Figure 2. These battles are used to prevent the heating medium from flowing along the top of the retort instead of through the material. They also assist in breaking up any large pieces which may form through caking.

A discharging device 33 is connected at 60 to the bottom of the retort at the lower end. This discharging device is similar to the charging device 24 and consists of a casing 34 in which is mounted a drum 53 which is keyed to a shaft 35 which extends through the heads 75 and to which is attached a pulley 77. The drum 53 is provided with a slot 38.

The shell 1 is mounted on any suitable support 48 and preferably at an inclination to the horizontal. The operation of the retort is as follows:

The material. to be distilled, oil shale for example, is crushed and fed through a spout 31 to the magazine 25 and the drum .23 is rotated from any convenient source of power. As the slot 39 in the drum 23 registers with the bottom of the magazine 25, the material contained therein falls into the interior of the drum 23. As the slot 39 registers with the opening 55, the material is discharged into the retort. This device, as will be seen from the description, discharges material to the retort without opening the retort to the outside atmosphere. in. starting up the retort, this charging process goes on and the retort; is practically tilled with the material to he distilled. As soon the retort has been filled, superheated steam or non-oxidizing gas at a temperature as may be required, ranging from a few hundred degrees to 1200 or 1500 F. is admitted through the opening This heating medium enters the space 60 between the false head 67 and the fire brick end of the retort T4 and passes through the slots 63. These slots are located in the bottom half of the head 67, so as to produce a uniform distribution of the heating medium through the material contained in the retort. The material is denser at the bottom than at the top so that there is a tendency for the heating medium to rise and flow along the top of the retort. To further lessen this tendency, the baffles 75 are installed which not only cause the gases and heating medium to dip down and pass through the material but also assist the stirrer bars 43 in breaking up any tendency for the u'iaterial to cake into large lumps.

The shaft 10 is now rotated through the gear 62, the cooling water having been turned on to the water cooled bearings 11 and 12 and into the hollow shaft 10. As the shaft 10 rotates, the stirrer bars 43 and the scrapers stat continuously pick up and drop the material contained in the retort thereby agitating same and preventing the material from caking into large nias' s which would prevent the uniform distribution of the heating medium admitted through the slots 63.

As the shaft 10 rotates, the scrapers 4st adjacent to the false head 67 causes the material to pass out through the opening 66. The amount of material passing out may be regulated by the hand wheel 72 which through the rod 70 raises or lowers the gate 65 as may be desired.

The amount of material charged to the retort and of spent material discharged from the retort is regulated so that the retort runs full of material at all times. This is essential in the distillation of shales and coal in order to prevent the cracking of the products of distillation.

The heating medium is hottest as it enters through the opening 9. As it passes through the material in the retort, the heating medium is gradually cooled down as it is always meeting the cooler material in the retort, the hottest material always coming in contact with the hottest heating medium. For shale, the entering temperature at 9 would be about 1,000 F. The temperature of the leaving gas at 8 would be about 400 1. This permits of a progressive distillation so that the volatile matter in the material is always dis tilled off at the lowest temperature, which produces the largest: amount of light oils. If the retort would not run full of material, the hot heating medium as admitted at 9' would rise to the top of the retort and vflow over the top of the material therein which would render the process ine'llicient in the use of heat and any products of distillation coming off from cool material near the bottomv of the retort would be cracked by the high temperature of the heatingmedium flowing over the top of the material.

By varying the speed of the drum. 23, the amount of material charged can be regulated as desired. By varyingthe opening of the gate 65, the material may be held in the retort as long as desired. By varying the speed of the shaft 10, any amount of agitation may be obtained. ,7

The material passing out through the opening 66 falls through the opening 60 and is discharged by the drum 53 without com- Ito.

iii

munication being established between the interior of the retort and the atmosphere, thus preventing the escape of gas from the retort which is under a slight pressure.

From the above description it will be seen th at I have provided a simple method for the rapid and e'liicient distillation of bituminous substances by causing a heating medium to flow therethrough.

hat I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a substantially horizontally arranged cylindrical retort, a charging device located near one end of the said retort, a discharg- 1 ing device located near the opposite end of the said retort, a false head near the discharge end of the said retort, an aperture for the discharge of material located in the said false head and a gate for varying the opening of the said aperture.

2. In a device of the character described, a substantially horizontally arranged cylindrical retort, a charging device located near one end of the said retort, a discharging device located near the opposite end of the said retort, a false'head near the discharge end of the said retort, an aperture for the discharge of material located in the said false head, a gate for varying the opening of the said aperture, and means for causing material to flow from the charging end to the discharging end of the said retort.

3. In a device of the character described, a substantially horizontally arranged cylindrical retort, a charging device located at one end of the said retort, a discharging device located at the opposite end of the said retort, heads closing the ends of the said retort, water cooled bearings mounted on the said heads, a Water cooled shaft extending through the said retort and mounted in the said Water cooled bearings, a plurality of stirrer bars mounted on the said Water cooled shaft and adapted to rotate therewith, a false head closing the said retort located near the said discharging end thereof, an aperture for the discharge of material within the said false head, a plurality of perforations for the passage of a heating medium in the said false head, a plurality of baflies depending from the top of the said retort and extending crosswise thereof, an

inletfor the admission of a heating medium at the discharging end of the said retort, a gas outlet in the charging end of the said retort whereby a heating medium may be caused to flow from the discharging end to the charging end of the said retort through the perforations in the said false head under the said bafiles in the said retort and through the material contained Within the said retort.

4. In a device of the character described, a substantially horizontally arranged cylindrical retort, a charging device located at one end of the said retort, a discharging device located at the opposite end of the said retort, heads closing the charging end and discharging end of the said retort, a shaft extendin longitudinally through the said retort an mounted in the said heads, a plu rality ,of stirrer bars mounted on the said shaft and adapted to rotate therewith, a false head located near the discharge end of the said retort, an aperture for the discharge of material located in the said false head, a plurality of shrouded perforations for the distribution of a heating medium located in the said false head, a plurality of battles depending from the top of the said retort and extending crosswise thereof, an inlet for a heating medium at the discharge end of the said retort, and a gas outlet located in the said charging end of the said retort.

5. In a device of the character described, a substantially horizontally arranged cylin drical retort, heads closing the ends of the said retort, a discharging device located at one end of the said retort, a charging device located at the opposite end of the said retort, a plurality of bafiles depending from the top of the saidretort and extending cross- Wise thereof, a false head between the charging and discharging devices located Within the said retort and near the discharging end thereof, an aperture in the said false head for the discharge of material therethrough, a plurality of perforations for the passage of a heating medium in the said false head, an inlet connection in the discharging end of the said retort, and an outlet connection in the charging end of the said retort whereby a heating medium may be caused to flow from the discharging end to the charging end of the said retort through the perforations in the said false head under the said baffles and through the material contained in the said retort.

6. In a device of the character described, a cylindrical retort, a charging device located at one end of the said retort, a dis charging device located near the opposite end of the said retort, heads closing the ends of the said retort, Water cooled bearings mounted on the said heads, a water cooled shaft extending longitudinally through the said retort and mounted in the said Water cooled bearings, a plurality of stirrer bars mounted on the said shaft and adapted to rotate therewith, a false head closing the ends of the said retort and mounted near the discharge end thereof, an opening in the said false head for the admission of the said Water cooled shaft, an aperture in the said false head for the discharge of the inaterial from the said retort, an adjustable gate for varying the aperture in the said false head, a plurality of shrouded perforations for the distribution of a heating medium located in the said false head, an inlet 7 for the admission of aheating medium in the discharge end of the said retort, a gas outlet opening in the charging end of the said retort, and a plurality of battles depending from the top of the said retort and extending crosswise thereof whereby the said heating medium flowing through the perforations in the said false head is distributed through the material contained in the said retort.

7. In a device of the character described, a cylindrical retort, a charging device located at one end of the said retort, a discharging device located at the opposite end of the said retort, heads closing the ends of the said retort, bearings mounted on the said heads, a hollow shaft extending longitudinally trough the said retort and mounted in the said bearings, means for causing coo.-

and the said protecting shell, a'false head.

near the discharging end of the said retort, and an aperture in thesaid false head for the discharge of material, substantially as described. 7 r

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses this 28th day of June, 1920.

CLAUDE M. (BrARLAND.

lvitnesses E. P. lVARNnn, M. Human. 

